CALIFORNIA
Visalia Delta-Times
The following was published Julyy 9, 2014, in The Berkshire Eagle of Pittsfield (Mass.).
It’s impossible to justify the Catholic Church’s decision to cover up the allegations of sexual abuse by clergy members that exploded like a July 4 firecracker several years ago.
Sexual abuse in any form is a heinous act and has long-lasting repercussions for the victims. Church officials did not handle the scandal or its fallout well, and the higher-up officials have never held some of the perpetrators responsible.
Given that history and those circumstances, Pope Francis deserves credit for trying to deal with the situation in his own unorthodox way. Not only did he meet with six of the victims, he begged for their forgiveness and vowed to hold bishops accountable for their handling of pedophile priests.
Do the pope’s actions change what happened? No. In his remarks, the pope made no mention of the countless victims or their families around the world, or whether bishops and other prelates involved in the cover-up would be fired or demoted. But it is a start.
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